Two-part cartridge carrier for repeating firearms



y 29, 1952 v. A. BROWNING 2,604,713

TWO-PART CARTRIDGE CARRIER FOR REPEATING FIREARMS Filed March 21, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l Q Q Q 1 3 1 1 j Q R a grwwvtoo VAL A. BHOWNZNG sag July 1952 v. A. BROWNING TWO-PART CARTRIDGE CARRIER FOR REPEATING FIREARMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 21, 1950 gvw nm VAL A. BEOWNZNG' V. A. BROWNING July 29, 1952 TWO-PART CARTRIDGE CARRIER FOR REPEATING FIREARMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 21, 1950 gwuc/wtom VAL A4 BROWNJNG Patented July 29, 1952 UNITED OFFICE TWO-PART CARTRIDGE CARRIER FOR REPEATING FIREARMS Val A. Browning, Ogden, Utah, assignor to Val A. Browning, trustee Application March 21, 1950, Serial No. 150,963

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a firearm of the type having a receiver, a barrel, a breech block mounted for reciprocation on the receiver and arranged to recoil upon firing the gun, a carrier in the receiver below the breech block and mounted for movement during advancement of the breech block from a depressed cartridge receiving position to an elevated position where it holds the cartridge thereon in alignment with the barrel, a releasable latch for holding the carrier in depressed position, and a dog or the like on the carrier and cooperable with the breech block to lock the latter in recoiled position after the dis charge of the last cartridge in the firearm, or when the breech block is manually retracted and no cartridges remain in the gun.

A firearm of this general character is disclosed in the J. M. Browning Patent No. 659,507, granted October 9, 1900.

The'time-honored way of loading a firearm of this character has been to load the first cartridge directly into the firing chamber of the barrel by turning the firearm on its side so that the ejection opening is uppermost, holding the gun in one hand and with the other'hand inserting a first cartridge through the ejection opening into the receiver (the breech block being locked in retracted position), and performing a manual manipulation with the hand holding the gun (such as pushing on a button associated with the latch for the carrier) to release the breech block so'it may advance to raise the carrier and push the cartridge thereon into the firing chamber and close the breech; and to then load the magazine by turning the gun upside down, holding the gun with one hand and'with that hand manipulating the button to release the carrier latch (this being required -as the latch normally holds the carrier in depressed position where it blocks the loading opening in the bottom of the receiver), and then. by means of the other hand, inserting one or a succession of shells through the loading opening and into the magazine. In initially loading thefiring chamber of the barrel and in loading the magazine, manipulations by both hands were required, and such manipulations were awkward to perform.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an improved and simplified construction by means of which the firearm may be loaded with cartridges more expeditiously and with greater ease and facility.

In accordance with the present invention, the arrangement is such; that an initial cartridge may-be positioned within the firing chamber by the mere manual act of inserting a shell through the loading opening without the necessity of any manual manipulation of buttons, latches. or the like. After the initial shell has been fed into the firing chamber, one or more shells may be fed into the magazine (if the firearm has a magazine), or a shell may be fed onto the carrier itself in case the gun is arranged to shoot only two shots in succession, by merely pushing the shells through the loading opening and without the manipulation of any buttons or other parts. During these loading operations, one hand is free to hold the gun and the other hand is used to merely push the cartridges through the loading opening. While fully loading the firearm, the same may be held in any position, and preferably in ready-for-firing position, which is most convenient.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

The following description will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which similar-reference numerals refer to similar parts and in which Figure 1 is a sectional view taken longitudinally and vertically through a firearm in which one embodiment of the present invention is incorporated, the breech block being shown in breech closing position;

Fig. 2' is a horizontal sectional View taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a View, similar to-Fig. 1 but looking at the other side of the firearm and showing the relative positions of the parts when the breech block is locked in retracted position and a cartridge is being inserted through the loading openmg;

Fig. 4 is a detailed view, in perspective, of a carrier constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the carrier in elevated position and the advancing breech block about to push the cartridge on the carrier into the firing chamber.

In these drawings, a firearm generally similar to that disclosed in said Browning Patent No. 659,507 is disclosed, but it is to be understood that this showing is by way of illustration only. The

firearm is disclosed as having a receiver iii and a barrel Ii provided with a firing chamber I2. The barrel, for illustrative purposes, is shown being mounted for reciprocation in the receiver and, in such instance, it may have a barrel extension l3 provided with a locking shoulder l4 (see Fig. 1). Mounted for reciprocation in the receiver is a breech block H which may be of any suitable construction. The breech block carries a locking block 18 provided with a shoulder l9 adapted to engage the locking shoulder 54 on the barrel extension so as to lock the barrel assembly and the breech block together during the recoil movement of the breech block or a portion thereof. The breech block carries the usual operating slide it employed for disengaging the locking block from the barrel extension and retracting the breech block when it is desired to manually move the latter to the position shown in Fig. 3. The numeral 22 designates an action spring located in the stock 23 and engaging a guide member 24 at its forward end. A link 25 is connected at its forward end to the lockingblock and engages at its rear end against the guide member 24. Carried by the receiver and below the barrel is a magazine or guide 26 which may support the usual recoil spring 21. Within the guide 21 is a plunger 28 urged rearwardly by a spring 25. Behind the guide 25 is a loading chamber or compartment havinga bottom loading opening 38.

The carrier is pivoted adjacent its rear end for movement between the depressed cartridge receiving position shown by full lines in Fig. 1 and the cartridge delivering position shown in Fig. 5. On the rear end of the carrier is a pivoted locking dog 42 arranged to cooperate with a locking shoulder 43 associated with the breech block for the purpose of holding the breech block in recoil position when the carrier is bodily held in its depressed position by a carrier latch member 44, this condition existing when the breech lock is movedback to its retracted position either upon firing or manually, and there are no unspent shells remaining in the firearm. In the present instance, the locking shoulder 43 is provided on the operating slide I5, The locking dog is normally urged into the position shown in Fig. by the usual spring 42a.

In accordance with the present invention, the carrier is so constructed and arranged that the forward or platform portion thereof may be moved by the shell itself during the act of manually inserting the shell through the loading opening while at the same time the rear or body portion of the carrier is held by the carrier latch in depressed position; and, when the shell has been so inserted to the extent it clears the forward portion of the carrier, said forward portion assumes its normal position with respect to the body-portion. The forward or platform portion is articulated or hinged or yieldably connected to or otherwise mechanically arranged to be mov tion. The body portion, designated generally by the numeral 46, comprises a pair of arms 4! connected at their forward ends and pivoted adjacent their rear ends on screws 38. On the rear end of the right-hand arm is the aforementioned lockingdog 42. The front end of the body portion 46 has a shelf or ledge 49 behind which is a vertical shoulder 50 forllmiting the rear position of the cartridge on the carrier. The front edge of this shelf is inclined upwardly and rearwardly as at 5!. The forward portion 53 of the carrier is shown as being in the form of a platform having a rearwardly extending arm 54 positioned along the side of the left-hand arm 41 of the body portion. The arm 54 is pivoted on one of the screws 48 so that both parts of the carrier are pivoted on the same center. The top surface of the platform corresponds to and is in alignment with the top surface of the shelf 49 when the parts are in normal relation as shown in Fig.4.. The rear end 56 of the platform isinclined correspondingly to the ed e 55 of theshelf so as to rest thereon whereby, when the body portion is raised, the forward portion is raised therewith. The extent of upward movement of the platformrportion relative to the, body portion of the carrier is limited by a lost motion connection between said portions for a purpose to be later described. In the present instance, this connection is shown as being in the form of a groove 5.! in the left-hand arm d1 of the body portion and a stud 58 carried by the arm 54, of the platform portion and loosely engaginginthe groove. The body portion of the carrier has a depending V- shaped projection 60 and the arm Slhas a similar projection B I, and these two projections, are substantially in registry when the, portions of the carrier are in normal alignment. Cooperating with these projections is a throw-over spring 62.

The carrier latch member is pivoted in one of the side walls of the receiver andits rear end is arranged to extend over the side margin of the shelf 49 to latch the body portion of the carrier in depressed cartridge receiving position. When the tubular guide26 is in the form of a magazine adapted to receive a plurality of cartridges, the member 44 may be in the form of a combined carrier latch and cartridge stop, as shown in the drawings. In such instance, the forward end 66 of the member prevents the rearmost cartridge from leaving the magazine when the latch 44 is in unlatching position with respect to the carrier. A spring normally urges the rear end of the member 44 into carrier latching position. A button 61 is illustrated for moving the carrier latch to unlatching position so as to allow the breech block to close. This button or its equivalent, in the present instanca-could be dispensed with entirely for normal operation but may be retained only for manual closing of the.

ejection opening to prevent entry of dust or foreign matter therethrough when the gunds laid away out of usage. For a purpose to be later described, the breech block carries a-downwardly spring pressed'member 68, the forward end of which constitutes a cartridge stop shoulder.

The operation of the firearm will now be briefly described. In Fig. 2, theqcarrier latch, 44 is shown as overhanging the shelf or latch on, the forward end of the body portion of the carrier, thus looking it in depressed position,'an d in Fig. 3 the breech blockis shown held in recoilposition by the locking dog 42. The parts assume these positions 'when' the lastshell is fired on when the breech -mechanism has been opened by hand and there/are no shells remaining in the gun. The forward end of the first or initial shell may now be inserted upwardly and forwardly through the loading opening, this being permissible as the platform portion of the carrier is free to be pushed up by the engagement of the shell therewith, as shown in Fig. 3. The engagement of the stud 58 on the arm 54 against the upper wall of the groove 51 in the side arm of the body portion limits the extent to which the platform may be raised at this time so that the underside of the platform is me position to aid in guiding the forward end of the shell into the rear end of the magazine. When the cartridge is advanced into the magazine sufiiciently so that its head is forwardly of the front end of the platform, the platform, under the influence of the spring 62, will move down to its normal position in alignment with the body portion of the carrier. Upon manual release of the operators thumb from the cartridge, the cartridge will be forced onto the platform by the spring pressed plunger 28 until the head of the cartridge engages the vertical stop shoulder 50 on the body portion of the carrier.

As the cartridge reaches this loaded position on the carrier, the rim thereof moves the carrier latch 44 to unlatching position whereupon the two parts of the carrier will swing upwardly in unison under the influence of the action spring 22 acting through the operating slide l5 andthe locking dog 42. It is observed that when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3, the action spring 22 is urging the breech block forwardly but it is beingheld against such movement by the locking dog, the body portion of the carrier being latched down as illustrated. At this time there is, of course, a component of force acting longitudinally of the dog and against the pivot 42b thereof and tending to move the rear end of the body portion downwardly. Therefore, when the carrier latch is disengaged from the body portion, the forward end of the body portion will swing upwardly and, as the forward portion of the carrier normally rests on the body portion, the two portions will move upwardly in unison. This movement, which takes place during an early portion of the forward movement of the breech block, is carried far enough by the action spring to move the V-shaped projections 60 and BI forwardly past the forward end of the spring 62 whereupon the spring 62 will complete the full upward movement of the carrier to delivery position. The advancing breech block will, of course, force the cartridge off of the raised carrier into the firing chamber of the barrel and close the breech. The breech block, during the latter portion of its forward stroke, will move the carrier downwardly somewhat and then the spring 62 will complete the downward movement to cartridge receiving position. The parts are now in the position shown by full lines in Fig. 1. It will be observed that the initial shell is thus loaded into the firing chamber by the mere manual act of inserting the cartridge through the loading opening.

A second cartridge may now be fed to the magazine following the same procedure as that just described but, in this instance, after the shell has been inserted past the forward end of the platform portion of the carrier and the shell is manually released, the shell, instead of being pushed back by the plunger fully onto the carrier, will be stopped in a position where the head of the shell engages against the stop 68 carried by the breech block. If now the gun is fired, the explosion of the initial shell will cause the breech block to recoil thus withdrawing the stop shoulder 68 from the cartridge and from then on the automatic operation is the same as that previously described in connection with the transfer of the first cartridge into the firing chamber. If it is desired to store more than one cartridge after the second cartridge has been inserted through the loading opening in the manner described, another cartridge may be inserted through that opening withits forward end engaging against the head of the second cartridge so that the second cartridge is fully moved forwardly into the magazine and the third cartridge will take the same position that the second one had.

In the event that it is desired to limit the number of cartridges to two which may be fired in succession by the firearm, the cartridge stop 68 on the breech block is omitted and the forward movement of the plunger in the guide is limited to allow only one shell to extend into the rear end of the guide. If desired, the stop shoulder on the forward end of the member 44 may also be omitted. In this instance, the initial shell is manually inserted through the loading opening and then automatically loaded into the firing chamber in the same manner as that previously described where a magazine was employed. A second shell is inserted through the loading opening in the same manner as the initial shell and is then immediately positioned on the carrier by the spring pressed plunger. To repeat somewhat, the second shell is inserted through the loading opening and moved into the guide sufficiently that the head of the shell will clear the forward end of the platform portion of the carrier; that portion will automatically return to its depressed position; the operators thumb against the shell is removed; the spring pressed plunger will immediately force the shell back onto the carrier; the carrier latch is released thereby; and, upon firing the initial shell, the second shell will be immediately raised to delivery position ready to be fed into the firing chamber by the breech block when the latter advances.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a firearm of the character described, a cartridge carrier adapted to be pivoted in the receiver of the firearm for movement between a depressed cartridge-receiving position and an elevated position where it holds the cartridge thereon in alignment with the barrel, said carrier having a pivoted rear body portionand a forward cartridge-receiving portion pivoted coincidentally with said body portion for swinging movement upwardly with respect to said body portion during the insertion of a shell through a bottom loading opening in the firearm, interengaging means between said portions whereby said forward portion normally rests on said body portion in align- 'ment therewith, and a pivoted locking dog on the rear end of said locking portion engageable with the breech block of the firearm to hold the breech block in retracted position upon firing the last cartridge in the firearm.

2( In a firearm of the character described, a cartridge carrier adapted to be pivoted in the receiver of the firearm for movement between a depressed cartridge-receiving position and an elevated position where it holds the cartridge thereon in alignment withthe barrel, said carrier having a pivoted rear-body portion and a forward cartridge-receiving portion pivoted coincidentally with said body portion for swinging movement upwardly with respect to said body portion during the insertion of a shell through a bottom loading opening in the firearm; interengaging means between said portions whereby said forward portion normally rests on said body portion in alignment therewith, means between said portions for limiting the upward movement of the forward portion with respect to said body portion, and a pivoted locking dog on the rear end of said locking portion engageable with the breech block or the firearm to hold the breech block in retracted position upon firing the last cartridge in the firearm.

3. In a firearm of the character described, a cartridge carrier adapted to be pivoted in the receiver of the firearm for movement between a depressed cartridge-receiving position and an elevated position where it holds the cartridge thereon in alignment with the barrel, saidcarrier having a pivoted rear body portion and a forward cartridge-receiving portion pivoted coincidentally with said body portion for swinging movement upwardly with respect to said body portion during the insertion of a shell through a bottom loading opening in the firearm, interengaging shoulders on said portions whereby said forward portion normally rests on said body portion in alignment therewith, depending wedge-shaped projections on the rear ends of said body portionand generally in registry and jointly cooperable with a throw-over spring, and a pivoted locking dogon the rear end of said locking portion engageable with the breech block of the firearm to hold the breech block in retracted position upon firing the last cartridge in the firearm.

i. In arepeating firearm ofthe type having a receiver, a barrel, a breech block mounted for reciprocation in the receiver, a compartment below the breech block and having a bottom loading opening and arrangedto accommodate a carrier, means for moving the carrier to elevated position as the breech block advances from its recoil position, means for moving the carrier to depressed cartridge-receiving position as the breech block approaches its breech closing position, and a carrier latch; a carrier mounted for movement between a depressed cartridge-receiving position in said compartment and an elevated position where it holds the cartridge thereon in alignment with the barrel and comprising a pivoted body portion and a forward cartridgereceiving portion normally urged into alignment with said body portion and movable relative thereto for permit-tinge. cartridge to be inserted through said loading opening while said body portion is maintained in depressed position, said body portion having a shoulder releasably engageable by the carrier latch to maintain said 8 body portion in depressed position except when a cartridge is on the carrier, and means on said body portion for locking the breech block in retracted position when said body portion is maintained in depressed position.

5. In a repeating firearm of the type having a receiver, a barrel, a breech block mounted for reciprocation in the receiver, a compartment below the breech block and having a bottom loading opening and arranged to accommodate a carrier, a rearwardly spring pressed plunger below the barrel for urging cartridges inserted through said'opening onto the carrier, means for moving the carrier to elevated position as the breech block advances from its recoil position, means for moving the carrier to depressed cartridge-receiving position as the breech block approaches its breech closing position, and a carrier latch; a carrier mounted for movement between a depressed cartridge-receiving position in said compartment and an elevated position where it holds the cartridge thereon in alignment with the barrel and comprising a pivoted body portion and a pivoted cartridge-receiving portion normally resting on said body portion and movable with respect thereto by a cartridge during the act of inserting a cartridge through the loading opening while said body portion is maintained in depressed position, said body portion having a shoulder releasably engageable with said carrier latch to maintain said body portion in depressed position except when-a cartridge is on the carrier, and means on said body portion for releasably holding the breech block in retracted position after firing the last cartridge in the firearm.

6. In a repeating firearm of the type having a receiver, a barrel, a breech block mounted for reciprocation in the receiver, a compartment below the breech block and having a bottom loading opening and arranged to accommodate a carrier, a rearwardly spring pressed plunger below the barrel for urging cartridges inserted through said opening into position on the depressed carrier, means for moving the carrier to elevated position as the breech block advances from its recoil position, means for moving the carrier to depressed cartridge-receiving position as the breech blookapproaches its breech closing position, and a carrier latch; a carrier having a pivoted body portion and a cartridge-receiving portion pivoted coincidentally with said body portion and normallyresting thereon and movable with respect thereto by a cartridge during the act of inserting the cartridge through said loading opening, said body portion having a shoulder releasably engageable by the carrier latch to maintain thebody portion in depressed position, except when'a cartridge is on the carrier, and a locking dog on said body portion for locking the breech block in retracted position after firing the last cartridge in the firearm.

' VAL A. BROWNING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED. STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,090,340 Browning Aug. 17, 1937 2,333,677 Roemer Nov. 3, 1943 2,480,074 Browning Aug, 23, 1949 

